Hello party people, miss me? I’m assuming you’ve guessed my the title of this post I ran today, and that it was raining? Did I ever mention I live in Michigan? So it was also cold during this run I ran today. Sadly no pictures (bad photography student). Anyway it was my first time running this year and I’m doing it in a running class. The class meets twice a week and then I have to run two days on my own for homework, I’m hoping this will do more to keep me motivated. I’m planning to get into the schools gym and lift two days a week as well, which will hopefully get me back on track to get to a point where I’m happy with the way I look. I did 1.2 miles in 14.22 minutes, which isn’t too bad for me. If I were a more consistent runner I probably would have more endurance and therefore would have a shorter time. But hey, I at least I’m still lapping the guy on the couch, and the various people who were laughing at my class from the parking ramp while we were stretching in the rain. 🙂

Monday we watched a really motivational video as well, and I’m going to leave you with that today.

Anyways I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of weeks now and while I’m sitting here between classes I thought I’d get some writing done.

Recently for my English class we had to do a research paper in the form of an advice column called “Dear Andy’ and I chose the question about what makes A good diet and how to lose belly fat. Of course having my experience with dieting and all the research I’ve read through Sparkpeople and some of the blogs I read I have managed to learn some things. I’ve had gestational diabetes three times and through making a lifestyle change for the better I lost 20 pounds. I know how to eat right and exercise, I have trouble implementing these things currently because for the first time in ten years I’m not home 24/7. Now all that being said I wrote a pretty good paper and all the fancy stuff I know off-hand I was able to back up with research from real sites like Livestrong and WebMD. Once we turn in our rough draft someone is chosen to read theirs then the class critiques it, and mine was chosen. Then people started telling what I should add and I was overwhelmed by the dieting advice people were telling me. A few things made me cringe to hear and I wondered just how much of this might be true and how mush was just plain wrong. So I thought I’d check on some of it and share what I found out with you.

1. Eating celery will burn more calories just by eating it then it actually has and you will lose weight.

While yes it is true (don’t get excited) it wont burn enough calories to justify running out and buying all the celery you can find. you need to burn3500 calories to lose 1 pound, that would be an awful lot of celery chewing my friend.

What I like to do is have raw veggies like celery or carrots ready to eat with some dip for a snack. My kids love it too, put them out while your making dinner and let yourself and the family snack and then you wont be so tempted to eat seconds (my problem). It’s also been suggested that you make your plate half veggies so you get more of the good stuff. All this will help in weight loss in the long run.

2. Running will help you lose lower abdomen fat.

Sadly we cant pick and choose the spots we lose weight in. Studies have shown that attempting to target one area for fat loss does not work. Believe me I wish I could aim for certain spots, that would be great.

Exercise is a good thing, running isn’t for everyone but it can be fun. If you don’t like to run there are plenty of options out there. Look for classes at your gym, don’t have a gym? There are some nice videos out there, you can check them out at the library or rent one at the video store. I once got a nice one out of a box of cereal!

3. You need some fried foods because some are good for you.

NO no no, my young padawan, just no. This is where dieting advice goes bad because some people just don’t pay attention to what the original advice was and start dispersing the wrong info like they know what they’re talking about. Fried foods taste good but they are not good for you.

The young girl who was telling our class this was mistaken in it’s not some fried foods that are good for you but some fats. There are good fats like olive oil, flax-seed oil, nuts and avocados.

these are the main three that stuck out to me the most, I need to research more to find out the truths behind some of the others I heard, I’m hoping I can get better at time management so I can try to get a blog post in about once a week. until then TTFN.

Disclaimer: I’m not a DR. or an RD, I’m just someone whose trying hard to get healthy and I read a lot. Through reading and learning I thought I would share with those of you who are interested. I’ve managed to read and learn a lot through the help of my friend Google.

That word was thrown out a lot during my Careers in Photography class yesterday. Passion, do I have enough of it. I like to think that I love to write, but then my blog goes untouched. I like to think I want to be a photographer, but then my camera stays at home most of the time. I continually say I need to get back in the game and get healthy and strive to meet my goal weight,but then I backslide.

I do have passion, passion for my family, so I should be doing what I can to make sure I’m around a good long time for them. I have been working on eating healthier, and as a result I lost three pounds. Two of which I gained back last week. But oh the feeling to see that scale go back down again, a thrilling wonderful feeling of accomplishment. But then the next week I could almost see myself as Peter Parker in Spiderman 2. The scene where he takes a running leap off the building in the hopes he can regain his spidey Mojo, only as he’s triumphantly flying through the air screaming “I’M BACK” he suddenly realizes he’s not and comes crashing to the ground. (can you tell I have sons?) Yeah, that oh crap feeling in the pit of your stomach, it was there.

My weigh in day is Sunday, why I chose that day I’m not sure. It almost seems like I’m begging for trouble by doing it at the end of the weekend, so it probably will change.

Do you miss the pictures of my food, and the workout updates? I need to start carrying my camera everywhere, so I see no reason why I shouldn’t have more food photos. My laziness is getting in the way of my passion for the things I like to do, writing, photography, and working out. I miss having a good sweaty workout.

My weight gain is showing this month finally in small health issues. I have had heartburn like crazy lately, I’m tired way too often, and my cycles are going off track. (sorry guys) if these are not reasons enough to get healthy I have five more living in my house. Duane has gained a bit of wight and he’s not real happy with his soft exterior either. This is becoming a family affair so that will make it easier in the long run. Hmm, long run, I need to start getting back into that too!

I need to start getting ready for class soon, the nerdy side of me is excited about having English today. 🙂 Have a good one!

I think about this blog every day, I just have not had anything good to say lately. But since its Friday I’ll tell you some random things that have been going on. Some things may be a little bit too much information, sorry about that, but that’s why you love me right? Right? crickets.

1. I don’t want to put a label on myself but I’ve been trying to avoid eating meat because I was sick and eating it made me feel worse. I had some hamburger in some chili and I regretted it the next day, don’t worry I wont go into details.

2. My Wii balance board is broken, I’ve been using that as an excuse to not weigh in.

3. I have a classic white girl shape which is to say I have a flat behind. Through squats and lunges I’ve managed to build my self a pretty nice um,… butt. (at least my hubby thinks so) because of this I have an irrational fear of losing it. I am probably the only woman in the world who asks their husband if my butt looks big and hopes he says yes.

4. Heres the biggie, I ate a cherry pie last week. the. whole. pie… and it was good. (it took me a few days to do it)

5. I’m lazy, but I think you knew that because otherwise I’d be blogging more and telling you about all my awesome workouts. Truth is if it wasn’t for taking phys ed classes I signed up for at school I probably would hardly work out. I love working out, I just have trouble forcing myself to do it. But if a getting 4 point is on the line you can bet I’ll be at every class working my tail off (on).

Ok, I’ll stop boring you all with my craziness for one day. However if your interested in more of my ramblings you can find me here, or here. (Facebook or Twitter) Have a happy Friday!

I know what your thinking, your thinking why is she showing us this tiny picture of a pile of wood, am I right?

This tiny little pile of wood has so much meaning to me right now. This pile of split fire wood rocks, it rocks because I made it.

We live in a rural area that doesn’t have natural gas available to it so we have to buy propane. Propane is expensive so we have a tiny wood burning stove to warm the house throughout the day.

A few years ago Duane hurt his back and couldn’t chop wood, I thought I would lend a hand and do it myself. That didn’t happen, I don’t think I so much as dented the wood that day. We had to call my father in law to come help out. from that point on my thoughts were I can’t do it, it’s too hard.

Fast forward to Monday morning, we don’t have any propane just yet because we’re cheap like that so the stove must keep going right now. We woke up and realized we had not registered for our winter classes yet. We took care of that, He got ready for work, I put the boys on their bus. then Duane told me I would have to chop the wood myself so Vicky wouldn’t be late for school (we drive her right now).

I know, I should have been mad and those I can’t thoughts should have popped up because that happens sometimes, right? Well they didn’t, I got dressed and went outside armed with the knowledge that I’ve been working hard with strength training so there was a chance I could do this.

First swing I knocked the log off the chopping block then with the next swing nothing happened. I decided to grab a different log and with that one the maul stuck, with the next swing it broke! I kept going until I had a nice little pile I hoped would last until Duane came home.

Those I can’t thoughts by all rights should have been there. I am overweight , I cant run more than two minutes without getting winded, and I lack motivation. But I did not let that stop me.

It is an amazing feeling when you realize everything you have been working for is actually starting to take shape. I was giddy from this all day Monday.

It is simply amazing what we can accomplish when we set our minds to it!

To eat and eat and eat. Nah, I don’t think so. I confessed the other day on Facebook that Halloween candy was more trouble to me than all the Thanksgiving and Christmas treats. I know this is blasphemy in the blogging world, but I just don’t care for pumpkin. I’m not a fan of apple desserts, most fall comfort foods have spices I don’t really like. That saves me, I once tried a dessert that had cinnamon graham crackers and my BIL told me just eat it you’ll learn to like it. I don’t want to, that’s just not how it works for me. If I don’t like something I’m not going to eat it.

I have yet to lose weight during the holidays but for the last two years I’ve managed to maintain. I have a go to mantra I like to stick to “lose, maintain, but just don’t gain” it runs through my head daily in November and December. I know this has been a really bad year for me weight loss wise, but I refuse to give in, my health is worth it. I’m worth it.

The kids have had their fill so I will be tossing or giving the candy away soon.

Goals for November:

Still make it to the gym at least 3 times a week.

At the parties I will try to make good choices and not force myself to eat something to make others happy.

The same goes for Thanksgiving, I wont eat until I’m sick, and I’ll make sure my kids get some veggies before they dive into grandmas pumpkin roll.

Hi, my name's Annette, a wife and mom of four who is making an attempt at weight loss and healthy living. Join me and my family as I blunder my way through new fitness ideas and tricking the kids into eating new veggies!